Instances
by Arcynic
Summary: Instances...giving possibility to the otherwise impossible. A series of oneshots dedicated to the more obscure couples in the SK fandom. [HHT]


Hullo dear readers who have stumbled upon this fic, but before you begin to read, I would like to shed some light about it. First and foremost, this will not be a mushy sappy romantic kind of series, so if you're looking for that kind of stuff...well...you won't find it here.

The fic premise was inspired by the many obscure couples that the Shaman King fandom has come up with. Some of the fics with these couplings are rather well written, some may be too ooc for my tastes, in either case, the authors usually tend to gloss over the fact that the characters barely know each other (AU's being an exception) or skip ahead to the future, not writing about the two people's first meeting. (I'm not insulting anyone, I could be wrong since I haven't read all the fics in this section, but that's my take on what I have read so far.)

So the goal for this fic is to create instances that give possibilities to the otherwise impossible SK couplings. Basically, a chance for the two characters to actually meet and interact, giving way to romance or whatnot. So really, these can be called friendship fics. Because of this, there will also be no canon (AnnaxYoh, FaustxEliza) or remotely possible (YohxTamao, AnnaxHao, LysergxJeanne) couplings in this fic. There won't be any slash/yaoi/yuri/shonen ai/shoujo ai couplings either, just case it's my preference not to write/read them.Okay, on to the fic!

* * *

He crept into the kitchen in the silence of the night. The air howled though the pen window, chilling the room slightly. Patting himself on the back for making it there undisturbed, the azure haired boy proceeded across the kitchen floor, smartly stepping over the squeaky tile. After what seemed like ages, h had reached his ultimate goal... 

...The cookie jar.

Gleefully opening the jar, he took out a mouthwatering chocolate chip cookie. He stared, for some time, at the perfect looking sweet before he moved it towards his mouth, fully intending to savor every crumb of it.

The lights suddenly turned on, stopping him in his tracks like a deer caught in a headlight. The cookie dropped from his grasp and fell to the floor with a deafening thud that rang in his ears. The spiky haired youth had no time to mourn the loss of the poor baked good as he turned and steeled himself to face the wrath of an infuriated itako...

...Only to find himself face to face with a pink haired girl mirroring his look of shock.

"Ah!" The girl's hands flew to the large notebook that never seemed to leave her side and proceeded to let her fingers fly across the alphabet written neatly across the page.-

The boy made out "I'm sorry." Before the girl's frantic fingers lost him.

"S...slow down...?" He requested, becoming dizzier by the second.

"Sorry." Her finger pointed out slowly.

"Uhm..." The spiky haired boy scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "You don't have to be scared of me... I'm not going to bite you or anything ...uh..."

He _did_ recognize the girl. She was the priestess of the Asakura household in Izumo, he remembered, and also happened to be the creator of the heavenly treats that he had risked life and limb for tonight. Her _name_, however, eluded him, even as he ransacked the tiniest recesses of his mind for it. The girl began to giggle at the comical look that graced his face as he tried to remember her name.

"Tamao." She supplied in her normal timid voice.

"Ah..." He grinned, "So she speaks!" She blushed to match her hair and he chuckled at her embarrassment.

"Ano...HoroHoro san..."-- She averted her gaze to the broken cookie on the floor as she spoke, guilt lacing her words, "I really am sorry about that..."

He shrugged nonchalantly as he scooped up the broken remains and dumped them into the garbage, "There's still a whole jar left. Care to join me?"

"This late at night?" She looked appalled.

"Sure, why not?"

"I already brushed my teeth..."

"So brush 'em again."

"But...Anna san..."

"What she doesn't know," he winked, "won't hurt her."

She stared at him from the doorway, fidgeting uncomfortably. Sensing her distress, he shrugged again, "Well, if you don't want to, it's not like I'm going to tie you to a chair and force-feed them to you. Goodnight Tamao."

He smiled at her before turning his attention back to the cookie jar. He took another cookie and was about to take a bite when another light flooded the kitchen. The refrigerator light to be precise.

"Chocolate chip cookies...go best with milk, ne?" The pink haired girl asked shyly, holding up a pitcher of milk in one hand and two glasses in the other.

HoroHoro beamed at her and nodded as Tamao made her way to the seat across from him. He poured the milk into the glasses and offered one to him. He in turn offered her the cookie jar. She delicately picked one about and was about to bite into it when her companion let out a startled noise.

"HoroHoro san?" The girl asked in alarm. Were her cookies horrible? Was he allergic to something in them? Her frantic train of thought would have continued but the spiky haired boy interrupted her.

"...Good..." He whispered with such intensity that Tamao though he was going mad. Sure, HoroHoro had smelled the delicious aroma of the cookies as they were baking in the oven...but he never imagined that _anything_ could taste so _good._

"These are the _best_ cookies I've ever tasted in my _life_!" He told her, tears streaming down his face as he continued to devour the cookie.

Tamao blushed bright red at the compliment, taking a bit out of her own cookie, "They're not that good..."

"No! No! It's true!" Was his prompt reply, resulting in his immediate choking.

"HoroHoro san! The milk!"

He complied, taking a large gulp from his cup. His throat now clear, a mischievous grin lit his face., "Hey Tamao..."

"Eh?"

"Let's make a toast!" HoroHoro responded, lifting up his half empty glass.

"Eh? With _milk_?" She asked, puzzled. He nodded emphatically.

"But..." The pink haired priestess took one look at HoroHoro's smiling face and felt her own lips curve to mimic his.

"Sure... why not?" She asked, laughing as she raised her own glass to his.

"To the girl who makes the best cookies in the whole world!" HoroHoro proclaimed boldly.

"And..." Tamao added, cheeks pink once more, "to the guy who'll...always be there to enjoy them?" Her voice wavered into an uncertain question, which HoroHoro responded to with a smile. They clinked their glasses together.

"Cheers."

* * *

-This is something Tamao only does in the manga, but I thought it was really cute so I incorporated it in. 

--Tamao isn't as absent minded as HoroHoro...so I think she'd remember all her beloved Yoh sama's friends.

[Couple thought corner]

This is where I express my own ideas about the couple in question, mainly cause I'm too lazy to make a website for this kind of stuff.

Okay, HoroHoro and Tamao, one of the 4 most popular hetero couplings in the Shaman King fandom. Why? Cause Tamao's the only girl left for HoroHoro after putting Anna with Yoh, Jeanne with Lyserg, and he can't be with his sister (who is then forced together with Ren).

Honestly, though, this couple could very well work. HoroHoro loves to eat, Tamao is a cook. Their personalities also compliment each other, as Tamao is quiet, reserved, and shy, HoroHoro is loud, brash, and good-natured. That's the kind of interaction I was going for with this fic. Tamao is so used to doing everything one way and HoroHoro kind of drags her to his pace of silliness and fun.

So why is this an obscure coupling? Well, because during the entire anime (and from all the manga I've read... 16 volumes) they have not spoken a word to each other (Okay...maybe one...possibly). Which is kinda odd seeing as how they run in the same circle of people. But that's what Takei san decided so oh well.

Sorry for any ooc-ness. I tried to keep them in character as much as I could remember. So this is the HoroHoro/Tamao instance, taking place anytime HoroHoro stays at Funbari really. Next couple up should be Ren/Pirika. And if you have any couple suggestions, feel free! As long as it's obscure.


End file.
